Shop Small... Shop Local

This Saturday is the Shop Small day which is a new tag line for buying local and supporting the small businesses in your area ... good advice for those of us that will be spending money on the holidays.  Buying local not only helps the business owners that have taken a chance and opened or continued in business during an economic crisis but it helps you too!
Let's compare ...oh I don't know, maybe ... a local insurance agent with an e-agent.  The product seems to be the same, I mean it covers you in case of an accident and as long as you have selected the right coverage online you are okay if you have a wreck. 

And let's suppose that you can put up with out of town claims service and email customer service ... let's say you are SURE that the coverage you have is right for you then still you need to consider a few things.

One ... the local agent will be spending the commission he earns from your policy at the restaurant that employs your cousin not the noodle joint in down town Mumbi (India) that an e-agent might be.  He'll attend the local concert, high school play, and basket ball game ... buying a ticket and advertising in the program to support the youth of your area.  Not attending the local Hindu festival and supporting a community on the other side of the planet.

Far more than the product it is the intent of the business person that should be important to you ... as the consumer your dollar is your vote.  Do you vote for India's success, Europe's children, or South America's Internet mogul?  No ... of course you don't want to vote for those far flung places and their success, you want your children and your community to succeed and to do that you need to weigh the benefit of your 10 cent savings against the the need to build your local economy.

Small and local businesses employ 1/2 of  all Americans (including you or your cousin), they are the true engines of our future success and they care about the children of the community.  So after you work the big box stores for their best Black Friday deals, stop by a local merchant and spend a few dollars with them, together we can vote for a strong local economy and community.

Peace on this Thanksgiving Day!!!

"So Long And Thanks For All The Fish"

Douglas Adams wrote the book titled, "So Long and Thanks for all the Fish".  I really loved the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy series of which this was the fourth book.  It was a fun, crazy narrative about an ordinary guy and his extraordinary adventures.

Adams was an atheist and while I believe his view on creation was stupid, I really loved his writing ... and in particular the title of this book.  I think of it often because over the last few years I've been studying fish farming. 

The population of our planet continues to grow and our sources of high quality protein from nature and traditional farming techniques can't keep up.  While science has helped us get fatter pigs and chickens they have created a few problems along the way.  We have bigger farms that create bigger animals but that means if the animals from one farm are diseased it will affect folks around the country, where as if we all ate from local farms less people would be affected by a diseased herd.  We would use less gas to get our food from the farms, and so we would create less pollution.  Plus we would know the people that raised our food and more importantly they would know us and have to look us in the face if they sell a bad product.  That's strong motivation to do the right thing.

Besides the need for quality control, there is the issue of "franken food" ... with all the genetic engineering going into those fat pigs and chickens are we changing the food into something that is ultimately bad for us?  We don't know the long term effects of the extreme genetics that is practiced today, but I can guess and you can too.

Well, with that idea for green living I should get my seafood from close to home as well ... so I'm going to grow my own fish and shrimp.  This way I can be more responsible and grow a food source that I love close to the home that I love.

Perhaps when I die they will put this on my tomb stone "So Long and Thanks for all the Fish" ...

This is a hilarious story !!!

This is an actual letter that was sent to a bank by an 86 year old woman.   I think it speaks to the arrogance of many giant corporations that believe we are too weak to resist their insane requirements ... Enjoy!!!
Dear Sir:
I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month.
By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it..
I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.
My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally answer your telephone calls and letters, --- when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become. From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate. Be aware that it is an OFFENSE under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope.
Please find attached an Application Contact which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof.
In due course, at MY convenience, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service.
As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Let me level the playing field even further.
When you call me, press buttons as follows:
IMMEDIATELY AFTER DIALING, PRESS THE STAR (*) BUTTON FOR ENGLISH

#1. To make an appointment to see me
#2. To query a missing payment.
#3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
#4 To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
#5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
#6.. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
#7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is required. Password will be communicated to you at a later date to that Authorized Contact mentioned earlier.
#8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7.
#9. To make a general complaint or inquiry. The contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service.
#10. This is a second reminder to press* for English.

While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call. Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement. May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous New Year?

Your Humble Client


And remember: Don't make old People mad. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off.

Why can't we all just get along?

Getting along doesn't come easy for human beings.  We like to be right, and more importantly we like to be the one that points out someone else being wrong.  Then we like to discuss "How wrong" they are and ask "Why do they continue being wrong?" ... Do you know anyone that will condemn something until others join them in the condemnation, then they switch to deffending the thing they were just condemning? 

Many years ago as a young man living in Germany, my wife Tena and I were playing a game called Balderdash.  It has cards with words that sound odd and you are supposed to either know the correct definition or come up with one that sounds like the real one, so everyone else will think it is real and vote for your definition.

While playing that game I learned the word "Schadenfreude"  \ˈshä-dən-ˌfrȯi-də\ which means ... taking pleasure in other's misfortune.  It's a good word because it describes a basic human trait.  It's a trait that is uglier than we normally would want to portray but one that is naturally there.  

We often find that we look for an angle to dispute what someone is saying or we like seeing them in situations that are uncomfortable.  While I know this to be true, I don't know why we are wired this way and I find it hard to resist even though it is a despicable trait.  I mean come on ... we love watching the sitcom where everyone gets into crazy situations.  We love to listen to a politition give a speech and then poke holes in what he or she says.

So this week I'm going to try really hard to be the model of kindness, I'm going to avoid disputes and the guilty pleasure of Schadenfreude.  I might fail but I'll start the week trying to get along! 

How to fix your Church?

Our church just voted to spend a lot of money on remodeling the kitchen and updating our electrical service along with some other renovations that need to be done.  If you've ever been involved in a church project like this you know that from concept to completion you have a lot of different ideas and concerns to consider.   You see a church board listens to an idea and discusses it for a long time and the community may change it's mind about the project over a two year period.  Very often what some see as necessary others see as an extravagance and many folks will change their minds back an forth more than once based on new evidence or a different point of view.

However, more often than not the final decision will come down to one question ... can we afford it?  Even if the money is in the bank (and it usually isn't) people will ask that question.  All kinds of non profit look for ways to make sure they have enough money.  In a church we collect a weekly offering that helps pay the bills and we ask for special offering to fund projects like the one we are doing now.  But imagine if the church decided to build a new kitchen and they had the money in the bank, how cool would that be?  Remove the question of how do we pay for it and you can focus on much bigger questions like ... "how can we use this new kitchen to glorify God and do his work her on earth?"  But how does a small town church acquire enough cash to do this kinds of projects?  Well there are many ways but the most common is Memorial gifting.

Giving a final gift at your passing or a give in memory of someone you love who has passed on is the best way for a church to fund construction, or mission work, or community services.  This can be land, autos, cash or life insurance proceeds.  As an insurance agent (and a guy without land) I like the idea of a life policy for the church.  If you are 40 years old and buy a 20 year return of premium life insurance policy to secure your gift to the church (with a death benefit of $100,000) then if you die before age 60 the church will get $100,000 (a poor substitute for all the tithes they will lose by your passing) but if you live to age 60 you set it up so the church will get $14,000 at that time or $37,000 when you do pass away.

A 35 year old man could pay $10 a week and not have to pay any more after 20 years.  This would give the church a $35,000 payment if you die plus the death benefit will increase year after year and at age 60 it would be $52,000.  There are a hundred examples of how to leave money but the bottom line is, no other method of giving back will pay the church a set figure no matter if you only made one month's payment to it!  You should speak to your insurance agent about this option ... I know I am going to!

J

Let's fix Washington!

Are you listening to the junk that Washington is spewing these days?  I know that politicians are always making a big deal out of little things and down playing big things so they are always casting themselves in the best light, but come on!

Let's take jobs for instance ... the White House says that Congress is being lazy and if they don't pass the JOBS BILL, all is lost and it's Congress's fault.  Congress says that the White house is going to tax those that can afford to create jobs and make it less attractive for growth.  The White House says that we have to tax the rich to correct the budget and give relief to the working class, the Congress says we need to stop spending on social programs and let the wealthy create more wealth and create jobs.  Who do you believe?

Being the social genius that I am ... I have come up with a plan that will fix everything.  First off, we should level the field ... I pay taxes and I pay for my own health insurance.  So I would say that everyone else should have to do that too.  Including congress and the president ... We as a nation spend billions on the health care of our employees and well ... nobody else is getting that so they shouldn't either.  The one exception should be our military and police forces ... we need them in top physical shape and we don't pay them enough.

On taxes I see a flat tax on income as a fair compromise.  Eliminate the tax brackets, loop holes and all the infrastructure that manages that ... everyone pays a flat percentage of their income no matter how much they make or where the income is being generated from.  Then the only IRS function would be to make sure that all income was reported and the bill paid ... no more tax returns, no more audits, no more huge cost from 106,000 employees.  The projected budget for the IRS in 2011 is just over 12 and a half billion dollars. 

Once the President and Congressmen are forced to pay taxes and 100% of their health insurance premiums they'll figure out the least painful path for us all.

There you have it ... all fixed, I lessened the expenses, increased the income and leveled the playing field for everyone in one fell swoop! 

Next victim!

Living in the Moment ... looking back at 9/11

Life moves fast and you have to stop and smell the roses every once in a while or it could just pass you by!  Sounds like a movie quote - right?  But 9/11 if it taught us anything, it showed that life is unpredictable.  But you know the idea of living in the moment doesn't mean we stop planning and live hand to mouth ... sometimes we get that juvenile concept.  You know what I'm talking about, some folks think that to live in the moment they need to quite their job and spend every second of the day contemplating the beauty of the world and our meaning while on the planet.

But we don't have to drop out to live in the moment, we just need to focus our efforts on what is important.  Work is a big part of our lives, not just to make money but to achieve (anything).  We measure our life time by work and even schedule our vacations around it because it is central top who we are and what we will be remembered by.

However, while no life is complete without work (whether at home or away from home) it would not be complete without leisure time or personal relationships.  In other words take time for work, time for play, and time for your loved ones ... if you do that then you are truly living in the moment.

9/11 really made us look hard at having balance in our lives, it reminded us all that work, while important, isn't everything and while we need to plan for the future we need to make sure we are living in between the planning.

I hope you are living a balanced life and that you have many great personal relationships at work and play.  Plan smart, work hard, pray, and be in the moment!